B6: Accepting Services of Legal Papers and Responding to Legal Papers on College Business

Responsibility for Maintenance: Office of the President

Date of most recent changes: May 5, 2011

I. Policy Statement  

Any Onondaga Community College employee who is served with or otherwise receives Legal Papers on behalf of the College (as defined in Part VI) shall process or respond to the Legal Papers in accordance with this policy.

II. Reason for Policy  

This policy is designed to ensure that the College will respond to Legal Papers in an efficient manner consistent with the College’s best interests and applicable law.

III. Applicability of the Policy  

All employees of the College should be familiar with this policy.

IV. Related Documents  

• New York Civil Practice Law and Rules
• Federal Rules of Civil Procedure

V. Contacts  

VI. Definitions  

VII. Procedures  

Only the following Onondaga Community College employees are authorized to accept Legal Papers on behalf of the College:

• President of the College
• Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
• Provost & Senior Vice President
• President’s Designee

In addition, an employee of the College who is specifically named in Legal Papers may accept the Legal Papers.

An authorized recipient of Legal Papers must immediately forward the Legal Papers, including the envelope in which they were delivered, if applicable, together with a statement indicating the time, date, and individual who served the papers and manner of delivery of the papers, to the Office of the President. All members of the College who are not authorized to accept Legal Papers in accordance with this policy must refuse to accept Legal Papers on behalf of the College and should direct anyone attempting to serve papers to one of the above-listed authorized recipients. In the event that the individual serving Legal Papers insists on leaving the papers with someone other than the above-listed authorized recipients, or if a member of the College community receives Legal Papers via email, regular mail, or another method other than personal service, the recipient must immediately deliver the Legal Papers, including the envelope in which they were delivered, if applicable), together with a statement indicating the time, date and manner of delivery of the papers, to the Office of the President. Upon receipt of Legal Papers in accordance with this policy, the Office of the President shall take such actions as are necessary to ensure an appropriate and timely response. Such steps may include, but are necessarily limited to, response by the President, coordinating with Onondaga County Attorney’s Office, delegating to appropriate College employees responsibility for responding to the Legal Papers, and/or retaining outside experts or consultants to assist in generating a response.

Subpoenas for Student Records  

Onondaga Community College maintains detailed and confidential information regarding students. Onondaga often receives subpoenas requiring the timely production of records or information pertaining to specific students involved in potential or ongoing litigation.

Pursuant to the College’s Policy on Accepting Service of Legal Papers and Responding to Legal Papers, the only employees authorized to accept service of a subpoena is the President of the College, the Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, and the President’s designee.  If the College receives a subpoena via the mail or fax, the President must be notified immediately. The original copy of the subpoena and all attached documents must be hand delivered, on the day of receipt, to the Office of the President for review to ensure that the subpoena is proper and meets legal requirements.

In the case of a subpoena that can be disclosed to a student, the Office of the President will contact the student and give the student the opportunity to quash the subpoena.

Notice to the Student  

A reasonable effort to notify the student who is the subject of the subpoena must be made before any records are produced. The institution’s obligation is limited to at most notifying the student. It is the student’s responsibility to fight the order or subpoena. An exception to this rule is made when the records are subpoenaed through a criminal grand jury proceeding or in situations where a subpoena is accompanied by a court order instructing the College NOT to disclose the subpoena to the student. In those cases no notice will be given to the student. Notification to the student should explain that the student has the right to take appropriate legal action to prevent the College complying with the subpoena and that, in the absence of such action by the student, within the determined time frame, the College will disclose the requested documents. If a student is able to quash a subpoena, the College is prohibited from disclosing the records.

If the student has signed a release/consent prior to a subpoena being issued, the notification requirement is waived. A student’s consent must be in writing, signed, dated and include the following information:

1. Description of the specific records to be disclosed;

2. Purpose or purposes of the disclosure;

3. Party or class of parties to whom the disclosure may be made.

Retention of Records  

The Office of Registration and Records will keep copies of the answers and a listing of records produced, along with the student notification letter and responsive cover letter. These files will be maintained according to the College retention policies. FERPA specifically states that student record subpoena responses must remain with the student record for as long as the student records are normally maintained.

Approved by OCC Board of Trustees April 3, 2006

Updated and approved by the President January 25, 2010

Updated and approved by the President May 5, 2011